The Political Junkie offers an outside-looking- in view of the US. Each day, we will highlight news and opinion pieces from around the world that are focused on US politics and policy. Agree or disagree with the opinions you will read but take a few minutes to see yourselves as others see you.

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Saturday, November 3, 2012

Germany: What if Romney wins?

Der SpiegelPJ: Germans have had a horrible history with far right politics and are loath to return to such ideals. While their government is in nature conservative, on the whole they support progressive policies like one of the best public health care programs in Europe. And while the support for fiscal conservative policies is intact, the population keeps a wary eye on any other governmental movement drifting too far to the right. Today's US GOP has not drifted but has surged so far right that Germans suspect that a republican candidate such as "severely conservative" Mitt Romney will kowtow to the far-right leaders in his party making him suspect and perhaps even dangerous.

The American Enigma Berlin Unsure about a Possible President Romney

Germans like US President Barack Obama, but what if his
challenger Mitt Romney wins next week's election instead? The Republican
politician is hard to read when it comes to foreign policy matters, and
politicians in Berlin are asking what it would mean for German-American
relations.

Germans have long since made up their minds about Mitt Romney. Only 5
percent would give him their vote if they had one, they say.

The result of the most recent poll by Forsa is far from surprising.
When America votes, the German heart traditionally beats for the
Democratic candidate. To many, the Republicans are suspect: cocky,
Christian-conservative, narrow-minded and often hawkish -- at least
according to the widespread cliché. Some 92 percent of Germans, the poll
found, would vote to return incumbent Barack Obama to the White House.
They aren't allowed to cast a ballot, of course, and are damned to be
observers, nervously standing on the sidelines. Obama and Romney are
neck-and-neck in the polls, with just days to go before Election Day
next Tuesday. And politicians in Berlin have long since begun
considering the possibility that Romney may take over the reins of
state.